Should I drop this course?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I am a first semester Freshman and I registered for a particular 200 level Anthropology course on Ancient Civilizations to fulfill one of my general ed requirements. </p>

<p>Ancient Civilizations/The Classical Period has always been my favorite part of history. I find Mesoamerican/Greek/Roman/Sumerian cultures to be so fascinating and I was excited about the class. When I began to read the textbook, I found it read a lot like my old AP World textbook and was easy for me to understand, the material is written in a way that is engaging, so on and so forth. </p>

<p>However, I have two qualms about the class. First, the workload is incredible - much more than all of my other courses combined (and three of them are humanities as well). The class meets three times a week and each class meeting there is a reading assignment of about 30-50 pages in the textbook plus a 25-30 page article that we also need to read. Needless to say, I was pretty overwhelmed with my first week of class. My second qualm is about the breakdown of the grading -- there isn't really one. Your entire grade is dependent on two exams (one is October, one is November) which account for 80% of the total grade, plus the midterm and the final. </p>

<p>I was initially going to drop the class straight away but after doing the reading assignment from last class, I thought it was too interesting to pass up. (I really, really, really love Roman and Greek history especially) But, at the same time, I don't want my grades to suffer in all of my other classes because I'm devoting so much time to this one gen ed. There are tons of sections of classes offered at my school that would deal with this gen ed, many of them are 101 courses too.</p>

<p>As it stands I have three options:
1) I can stick with the course and receive a letter grade at the end of the semester, just as I am doing with all my other classes. I don't know how overwhelming this will be but judging by the syllabus, it won't be too pretty. </p>

<p>2) I can drop the course by next Tuesday. I am on a full scholarship that requires I be enrolled in at least 4 courses (I'm currently in 5) -- I also have a year's worth of credit from AP exams, so time nor money aren't really issues. </p>

<p>3) I can take the class as P/F. I have a vested interest in maintaining a high GPA because of my interest in grad school. While P/Fs on a transcript are not the most desirable, it will ultimately be negligible in the long run since it was just a non-major related gen ed my Freshman year, at least compared to a C or similar. </p>

<p>Opinions? </p>

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<p>Since you really enjoy the subject material, I would say stick it out.</p>

<p>It’s important to remember that you are not in high school anymore. At least on paper, the reading workload is not that unreasonable for a college course. The grading rubric is also not unusual; as you go further up the ladder, you will find courses that in which a large percentage of the final grade is based on 2 or fewer assessments.</p>

<p>If the workload is really unbearable, perhaps one of the other 4 courses is less important to your overall goals, and should be looked to be dropped. Good luck.</p>

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<p>I’d recommend you take it Pass/Fail. It’ll make no difference on grad school applications and will make worrying about your GPA less stressful.</p>

<p>That being said, I agree with the above poster about the workload. Nothing about the workload or grading sounds unreasonable or even particularly intense. This class might be good for you in terms of learning how to deal with classes that have a lot of assigned reading or that base the your grade on only a couple of exams. It’s likely not going to be the last time you have a class like this, and you might not have the luxury of being able to drop it or take it P/F next time.</p>

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<p>I really like all of my courses - I find them all very interesting. They’re all gen eds – if I completed all 5 classes this semester, I would start on taking major courses next semester. If I drop a class, I’d just have to tack on that gen ed requirement to next semester’s course load. </p>

<p>I don’t want to abandon the class entirely; my idea was either I stick it out now or I postpone taking it until next semester where I’m more “acclimated” to the demands of college, I suppose. I emailed my advisor and the coordinator of merit scholarships just to verify that dropping the class wouldn’t pose any serious problems to my scholarship/academic standing just as a precaution. </p>

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<p>What are your plans for after college? If you’re planning on going straight into the workforce, then definitely just take it pass/fail because no employer will ever ask to see your transcript. Even for most grad schools, pass/fail is acceptable as long as it’s not a core class (MD can be an exception, apparently some schools count passing in pass/fail classes as a C? Not sure)</p>

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<p>Try not to take it pass/fail (especially wrt law school admissions). Is there any way you can see the grade distribution for the class last year? What’s the ratemyprofessor look like for the instructor? Do people usually do well on the exams? Will the prof. re-administer older exams during office hours (some do)?</p>

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<p>@jazzcatastrophe‌ – After college I was planning on law school (not immediately afterwards - about 1-3 years in between) – so my main concern is GPA and LSAT when it comes to my undergraduate career. </p>

<p>@Vctory‌ - I’m unsure about the grade distribution but the professor got fabulous reviews on ratemyprofessor - she has a great personality and tons of experience in her field. Said to “very much care” about her students’ grades, friendly, etc. In regards to the specific course I’m taking, a lot of reviews do mention the large volume of reading but that the tests are based solely on the lectures. </p>

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<p>Imo, take it and enjoy. Visit her during office hours when you can.</p>

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<p>It’ll be hard because this is essentially your first experience with an intensive college course, but I bet you can stick it out!! After a while you’ll get used to the course load and will be better able to balance the reading and your other assignments. Since you really love the topic, it’ll probably be easier for you to learn, which should help you out with preparing for the major exams. </p>

<p>And if you for some reason don’t do as well as you’d like (though I bet you’ll still do well!), it’s only your freshman year. You’ll have a lot of opportunities to build up your GPA. </p>

<p>Right now you’re experiencing fight or flight, and I think your heart wants to fight while your head prefers flight. So just stay and fight! It totally helps that you have a good professor. She can help you along the way. </p>

<p>Good luck!! </p>

10

<p>Welcome to college. Most of your grades from here on out WILL be on 2-3 large assignments/tests. That reading load is pretty average for a lower level anthro class. Low for an upper level. </p>

<p>I’d stick it out. Just learn to manage your time well. </p>